Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Ally Financial Put Options (NYSE:ALLY)

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 7,874 put options on the company. This is an increase of 100% compared to the typical volume of 3,936 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ALLY shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ally Financial from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ally Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.73.

Ally Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ALLY opened at $42.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.09. Ally Financial has a 1 year low of $35.92 and a 1 year high of $47.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.70.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.75%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.30%.

Insider Activity at Ally Financial

In other news, insider Stephanie Richard sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total value of $221,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 88,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,933,241.21. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Ally Financial during the second quarter worth $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Ally Financial by 30.8% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Company Profile

Ally Financial Inc is a digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides consumer and commercial financial products, with a primary focus on automotive financing and digital banking.

Ally’s automotive business offers retail installment sales contracts, consumer loans and leasing products through a network of automotive dealers. The company also provides dealer financing and related commercial lending services. Through Ally Bank, it offers deposit accounts, personal loans, mortgage products and other banking services, while Ally Invest provides self-directed investment and brokerage services to individuals.

The company serves customers primarily in the United States through digital platforms, dealer relationships and other distribution channels.